MIAMI - Union Place returns to the scene of his only graded stakes victory as one of the favorites in Saturday's $100,000 Pete Axthelm Stakes at Calder.
The 3-year-old Union Place outgamed Miesque's Approval to win the Grade 3 Calder Derby by a neck on Oct. 12, and it is likely the two rivals will match strides once again in the Axthelm.
NEW ORLEANS - A sibling rivalry is brewing in the Fair Grounds barn of trainer Neil Howard.
Rock Slide and Mineshaft, both dark bays cast in the classic Thoroughbred mold, live in adjoining stalls. Both are by A.P. Indy out of the outstanding broodmare Prospectors Delite, and Rock Slide, the 4-year-old, has a head start on his younger brother, the 3-year-old Mineshaft. Rock Slide won the Tenacious Handicap here in his last start, and trainer Neil Howard hopes he will develop into a horse for the New Orleans Handicap.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Gary Contessa is mapping out plans for Grey Comet and Unswept, the one-two finishers in last Sunday's Damon Runyon Stakes.
Contessa said he would like to keep the New York-breds separated, but intends to nominate both to the $75,000-added Count Fleet, an open stakes for 3-year-olds on Jan. 4.
Grey Comet, a 3 3/4-length winner of the Damon Runyon, is a likely starter for the Count Fleet, which will be run at the same mile and 70-yard distance as the Damon Runyon.
Remington Park in Oklahoma City, which faced an uncertain future earlier this year when Magna Entertainment considered closing the facility in 2003 because of a dates disagreement with horsemen, finished its Thoroughbred meet on Sunday with declines in average daily attendance and handle.
During the 71-day meet, attendance averaged 1,851, a 20-percent decrease from the same season a year ago, which ran 59 days. Handle on Remington's races averaged $408,964, a 17-percent decrease from 2001.
Purses also fell 14 percent this meet to a daily average of $80,830.
GROVE CITY, Ohio - Both the riding and training titles will be decided at Beulah Park when the track concludes its 72-day fall meet on Sunday afternoon.
Through Tuesday, jockey Huber Villa-Gomez held a 55-53 advantage over Perry Ouzts in the rider standings despite having 76 fewer mounts than Ouzts. Villa-Gomez is in search of his first Beulah Park riding crown, while Ouzts has been a perennial leader both here and at River Downs over the past three decades.
Colorful Tour, the dominant Illinois-bred 3-year-old this year, will make one more start at Hawthorne, according to trainer Noel Hickey.
Colorful Tour is being pointed toward the $40,000 Chicago Six Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 1. The meet's closing-day feature, the Chicago Six will be Colorful Tour's first race in open company against older horses.
"After that we're sending him to Oaklawn," Hickey said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Anybody for a match race? The probable field for Saturday's Grade 1 Hollywood Futurity continued to shrink on Tuesday morning, when trainer Bobby Frankel said Ghostzapper was unlikely to participate, and Bill Currin, the trainer and co-owner of Outta Here, decided to send his colt to Louisiana for a $500,000 race at Delta Downs.
NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana Champions Day Classic winner Walk in the Snow came out of his win Saturday "better than ever," trainer Herman Taylor said, but the best older Louisiana-bred in training won't race again until early March.
"I don't know if he needs a break or not, but he's going to get one," Taylor said. "There's nothing for him until then."
The decision to increase the purse for the Delta Princess from $100,000 to $250,000 has yielded a diverse field of eight 2-year-old fillies. None have won a graded stakes but four are stakes winners. The one-mile race will be run Friday night at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.
Approximate post time for the Delta Princess, which serves as a prelude to Saturday night's inaugural $500,000 Delta Jackpot for 2-year-olds, is 10:05 p.m. Central.